A GOOD START

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 116, 13 November 1939, Page 8

A GOOD START

CAUSE FOR OPTIMISM

APPRECIATIVE PUBLIC

"I see no reason why the Exhibition should not be a pronounced success from every point of view," remarked Mr. C. P. Hainsworth, general manager of the Exhibition Company, today, in summing up his impressions of the first four days. "A great enterprise like this takes time to settle down. It is like a new machine that requires to be run in. The staffs are largely new and there are things that require adjustment or easing, but in general we are hearing nothing but praise from all sides."

The weather for the first four days had not been of the best; otherwise the crowds would certainly have been much bigger, said Mr. Hainsworth. He would not be surprised if the attendances on peak days were from 80,000 to 100,000. As it was,* the figures were very satisfactory and from,, what he had seen on a tour of inspection of the whole Exhibition on Saturday night the public were fully appreciative of all there was offering.

While very successful from every point of view, the Dunedin Exhibition in 1925-26 could not be regarded as a Dominion-wide effort, and consequently it did not have the Domin-ion-wide appeal that the Centennial Exhibition undoubtedly possessed, said Mr. Hainsworth, dealing with the esti^ mated attendances. His experience of exhibitions was that for the first two or three weeks particularly the support came from people living more or less in the vicinity, and that those living further afield confined their visits mainly to holiday periods. Considering the public patronage to date, a total of 104,555, there was ground for real optimism for the success of the Exhibition in the coming months.